


Undoubted Trust

by leparolelontane



Category: Among Us (Video Game), Eurovision Song Contest RPF, Festival di Sanremo RPF
Genre: Betrayal, Drama, Eventual Happy Ending, M/M, Minor Character Death, Outer Space
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:33:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27324307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leparolelontane/pseuds/leparolelontane
Summary: Fabrizio watches Ermal for a long time. He does this only to make sure that all the stories about people are true – at least, this is how Fabrizio tries to justify to himself this unhealthy interest in someone who will have to be killed sooner or later.
Relationships: Ermal Meta/Fabrizio Moro
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	Undoubted Trust

Trust is one of the strangest things in the world. With some people, it takes a long time to achieve it, step by step probing the ground of shaky human relationships. These days, it's rare to find a person who is willing to believe a stranger, so it seemed almost impossible that such a person would be one of the crew members on a mission of perhaps global importance.

A week ago, the main headquarters received information about unknown activity on one of the planets located near the satellite's trajectory. The eight-man team was assembled in a matter of days, because there is nothing more attractive to humanity than the opportunity to explore something and, if it turns out to be useful, to appropriate it. Not all of the crew members were familiar with each other, but if they had known what was coming, they probably wouldn't have made such a mistake.

No one told people that what the satellite found was actually the remains of an ancient civilization that had been hiding from the rest of the world for thousands of years on one of the most uninhabitable planets. Humanity had never encountered this race before, but the aliens knew everything about humans. Their language, their technology, their greed. They knew that they had been discovered and that a ship would come after the satellite. With people who want to take everything they have. Ransack. Destroy. They couldn't let this happen, so they had to act first.

It is not difficult to infiltrate the crew. Dispersed in different compartments of the ship, the astronauts become easy prey for creatures that clearly surpass the human species in strength and speed. They would have no trouble cutting out all of them at once, and then adjusting the ship's course toward the nearest asteroid, giving the story the appearance of an accident.

However, they know that others will come for these people, the loss of one ship will not force the human starfleet to retreat, which means their home planet will still not be safe. They need to become one of them, learn everything they know, calculate their plans and intentions. Disclose. Weaken. Only by presenting the real scale of the threat will they have a chance to save themselves. But no one expected that feelings would interfere at the most inopportune moment, did they?

Fabrizio watches Ermal for a long time. The medical bay is clearly not a place where you can learn a lot of information necessary for their case, but he can't resist the temptation. Fabrizio had never seen humans so closely before, and their race had spent the last few centuries in absolute isolation from the rest of the world, so that all his knowledge, even if it was accurate and complete enough to be completely human in movement and behavior, had never been tested in practice before. He follows him only to make sure that all the stories about people are true — at least, this is how Fabrizio tries to justify this unhealthy interest in someone who will have to be killed sooner or later.

To tell the truth, he has to justify his behavior not only to yourself. Carlos, his partner, who was doing their job alone and risking the safety of the operation, was clearly not happy with this arrangement. One day, returning from the upper engine to the cafeteria, after another round of the ship, he notices Fabrizio in the medical bay. Ermal, too busy studying the test tubes, never notices the shadow behind him, which in turn marks his every step and movement, but does not dare to approach.

Carlos slips silently into the room, grabs Fabrizio by the sleeve, and leads him into the cafeteria, away from the cameras in the hallways. Fingers that are too grasping for human hands are clenched tightly in the suit, and the mouth opens unfriendly, showing two rows of frequent and razor-sharp teeth. If it had been up to him, Carlos would have had them around Fabrizio's neck, but that way he would have had almost no chance of getting off this ship alive.

"If you don't stop hanging around and start to do what you're told, I'll kill your dear doctor first."

"If you dare, they'll find your body next," Fabrizio says, pushing his partner away from him and walking down the hall.

From that moment on, everything changed for him. The realization of the inevitable future forces Fabrizio to throw off the caution that previously kept him at a distance and take the first step. During lunch, he sits down with Ermal, who seems very happy for the company, especially considering how easy it is to feel alone on such a large ship in the boundless space. Surprisingly, they do not talk about the mission at all, although it would seem that strangers initially try to talk about what exactly connects them. Fabrizio occasionally catches Carlos's not-so-warm looks, but to be honest, he can't care less when Ermal is so engrossed in talking about something of his own.

They didn't have much time to get to know each other. With every hour of communication, Fabrizio increasingly questions what he was told about people on his home planet. This person has no desire to destroy and absorb, he sounds genuinely enthusiastic when he expresses his assumptions about what they can find on the unknown earth. After a few days, Fabrizio realizes that if it were up to him, he would allow this crew to set foot on this carefully guarded territory that their people call home. At least to one person for sure.

Ermal, in turn, is fascinated by the new acquaintance. Fabrizio listens more than he talks, but when he does, the things he talks about are shocking in their novelty and strangeness. It's as if he has a completely different vision of the world, as if he is from another planet (if only Ermal knew how close to the truth this feeling is).

Some things are impossible to prepare for, even if you are absolutely sure that they will happen. So Fabrizio was not ready to walk around the ship and see the picture that would serve as the beginning of the end. This happened after Ermal pushed him out of the medical bay, saying that he interferes with his work. On the way to the shields, Fabrizio sees one of the crew members standing in the doorway of the electrical, and a little further on, in the back of the room, Carlos is bending over a bloody corpse. It takes a split second for him to make a decision — a few steps forward, one quick movement of his hands, and the second body smoothly falls to the floor of the room with its neck curled up.

You can't leave witnesses, they were taught that from day one. The success of the operation is most important, you can only sacrifice a partner in emergency situations, when the risk of disclosure is too high. How Fabrizio wants at this moment to send all the instructions to hell with Carlos, to give him to the crew to throw him overboard, where he will drift powerlessly until he dies of hunger and thirst or collides with one of the millions of flying objects in the galaxy. But he can't, so he'll do the only thing he can.

"We're going to clean up this mess you've made, and then we're not partners anymore, so you can do whatever you want. If you get caught, I won't stand up for you and cover you. And remember what I told you about Ermal — he's under my protection."

Carlos doesn't look too happy about the news, but he doesn't say anything against it either, just nudges Fabrizio irritably with his shoulder as he passes. Together, they clean the floor of the blood and hide the bodies in the trash compartment, where they are sure not to be found in the near future. And they will start looking for, and very soon. It is impossible to imagine that the loss of two crew members will not excite the rest, so they can only guess how many quiet hours (at best) they have left.

Fabrizio spends some time in the control room, trying to calm his agitated nerves and develop a plan of action. First of all, he needs an alibi, but there will be no problem, only the blind man did not notice how much time they spend together with Ermal, and Fabrizio is sure that he will confirm this. Now all he has to do is make sure that nothing happens to his alibi. Looking up from his aimless contemplation of the sensor panels, he heads for the medical bay, no longer intending to leave it, at least not alone.

Ermal had already completed his observations and is now writing reports. Fabrizio goes quietly and sits down on the bed without being noticed, what frightens Ermal when he turns around.

"Damn it, Fabrizio? I'm sorry, I didn't notice you come in. How long have you been sitting here? Are you all right?"

He asks because it is his immediate responsibility to take care of the condition of the crew, and the fact that someone is sitting behind him like this for an indefinite but probably long period of time and silently watching is disturbing. Rising from her seat, Ermal crosses the room and takes a seat next to Fabrizio on the bed.

"I don't know, maybe twenty minutes. I didn't want to distract you again, and you're interesting to watch. Can I stay here?"

Such a simple question, no reason or explanation, he hopes Ermal will understand without them. And he understands, nodding slightly, not resisting when Fabrizio puts his head on his shoulder in relief. They both feel that something important is happening now, something is changing, only one of them knows exactly why. After this moment, they will no longer find peace, the atmosphere in the air thickens, forcing them to stay closer to each other. Fabrizio curses the moment when he agreed to go on this mission.

Before the first body is found and an emergency meeting is called, Carlos manages to kill another person. The three absentees cause easy-to-read alarm on the faces of the survivors, and Ermal immediately asks where the body was found — he needs to conduct an examination to determine the cause of death before they can do anything about it.

The five of them go to the navigation room, everyone understands that it is not profitable for anyone to separate now. Fabrizio keeps close to Ermal, who follows Orlando, who has discovered the body, with an expression of complete concentration on his face. But even for a doctor who has seen a lot of corpses in his practice, the body of a comrade becomes a shocking sight, forcing him to clench his hands into fists and exhale convulsively before Ermal approaches and begins to study the nature of the wounds.

Their situation is getting worse by the hour. Not only have the two missing people never returned, which leads to the frightening assumption that they shared the fate of their found comrade, but the ship is almost falling apart. Now that many of the key systems' posts are empty, they gradually fail, forcing the crew members to split up, which is obviously not the best solution, and go for repairs.

Fabrizio knows that soon the three of them will be the only people on the ship. There is nothing that can save those poor two, who, unlike Ermal, are watched for a very different purpose than to protect. Several times he has the idea to call a meeting and reveal the identity of the killer, but it is impossible to do this without exposing himself. No, he must survive. As well as Ermal. Nothing else matters.

After removing the last two obstacles, Carlos suspects that he has no trump cards up his sleeves: he will not be able to catch anyone by surprise, or work ahead of time and accuse one of them of murder, because Fabrizio was hanging out with Ermal, which earned him unconditional trust. But if it comes to a direct collision anyway, he still decides that he has nothing to lose and reports the body found.

"I found Roman's body by the generator, and I thought I saw someone jump into the vent. I think it might have been Orlando."

Fabrizio looks up at him, annoyed.

"Tell me, do you see him among us now? No. Do you know why? Because he's dead, and so is everyone on this ship except us."

"Fabrizio, wait," Ermal interjects, raising his hand to draw attention to himself. "I'd really like to find out what's going on on this damn ship, and you two seem to know a lot more than I do. If we are the only survivors, which we probably are, one of us is an impostor."

He pauses, trying to reconstruct the full picture of events in his head, and then continues.

"Fabrizio and I have been hanging together ever since the first body was discovered. He had plenty of opportunities to kill me, but he didn't, so I don't think it’s him. I don't know if my word counts, but I can tell you for sure that I didn't kill anyone. Carlos, is there anything you want to say?"

Two pairs of eyes turn on the named one: alert and attentive — Ermal’s and expectant and threatening — Fabrizio’s. No one in the world would want to be targeted by the second.

"I may have killed several people on this ship, but don't think your precious protector is innocent. Fabrizio is just like me. Killer, spy. And he would have done very well on our mission if it weren't for you, Ermal. You've ruined everything."

Carlos moves away from the table and begins to pace the cafeteria nervously, while Fabrizio looks apologetically at Ermal and purses his lips, then takes decisive steps towards his partner, forcing him to straighten up and take a defensive stance.

"Fabrizio, please listen to me. It's not too late to fix it, we'll just get rid of him, I'll do it myself if you don't want to, and then we'll go home together. Everything will be fine, we will be welcomed with open arms. I won't tell anyone what happened here, I swear!"

Fabrizio knows that this is all a lie. Anyone in a situation like Carlos's would try their best to get out of it to save their own life, and eventually turn him in to his superiors in an attempt to get revenge, earn the favor of management, or for any other reason, it was a long time to list them.

Even if it were true, he couldn't do that to Ermal. Now Fabrizio was even partially grateful to Carlos for focusing all his attention on himself so he doesn’t have to look at Ermal. He's probably disappointed in him, or maybe even afraid or hates. It's hard to say which is worse.

"I'm sorry, Carlos, I'm sorry, but... I can't," Fabrizio puts his hands on his shoulders in case he wants to break away, and then leads him to the hatch. Ermal follows them in silence, his mind in complete chaos, but he struggles to focus on what is happening. He will have time to think about what has happened when they will be safe.

"Ermal, please push the button," Fabrizio asks, not risking letting go of his captive, and rightly so.

As soon as the hatch opens, Carlos tries to escape, and, not considering it necessary to hide his true identity any longer, bares his mouth. His teeth are biting into Fabrizio's hand, and if he didn't react in time, he would risk losing it. Ermal immediately rushes to help, dragging Carlos, who does not want to go so easily into free flight, hits the man who grabbed him in the stomach with his elbow, but he does not loosen his grip. In the end, the forces are unequal, and together they manage to send Carlos overboard.

The danger passes, and Fabrizio sinks to the floor against the wall, panting and holding his hand, which is gushing blood of a strange color. Ermal kneels down next to him and briefly examines the wound, then puts a hand on his cheek and gently strokes it.

"Fabrizio, don't faint, stay with me. We need to get to the medical bay, can you get up?"

Weak nod is a sign of agreement, Ermal helps Fabrizio to get on his feet and throws his arm around his neck, supporting him all the way, because the strength is rapidly leaving the body.

Even in spite of his profession, he is not sure that the painkillers will affect non-human and is afraid that it will make things worse, but Fabrizio assures him that everything will be fine. It doesn't take long for the wound to be treated and bandaged, and then Ermal gets a grateful smile from his half-asleep patient and goes to wash his suit of blood.

Fabrizio's body recovers incredibly quickly, with just a few hours of sleep allowing the wound to heal almost completely. Ermal has never seen such a rate of tissue regeneration before, which arouses a genuine professional interest in him, but he understands that now is not the best time to delve into research. And also would Fabrizio allow him to study himself?

With all the horrors of the past days, it is extremely easy to lose track of time. The navigation system tells them that they are less than twenty hours away from their destination, and they both know that now they have to decide what to do next.

"Do you want me to follow Carlos? If so, just tell me, I'll understand, I deserve it as much as he does."

There is no sadness in Fabrizio's voice, only a cold resignation that somehow hurts Ermal more than a knife.

"Don't even think about it, I didn't save you for that," Fabrizio laughs softly. "Are you going back... home now?"

"No, I don't have anything else to do there. If I go back and tell them everything, I'll be executed right away. I’m now a traitor to both sides," Fabrizio puts elbows on his knees and buries fingers in hair, covering his eyes.

"You're not a traitor to me," Ermal tries, but Fabrizio doesn't seem to hear him.

"I'll go to my hiding place and sit there until... until I decide it's safe."

"I want to go with you."

"Excluded. Ermal, you have a very important mission right now: you must stop starfleet from discovering my planet. When your ship doesn't return, they'll send a second one, and we'll... try our best to stop them. It's going to be the same as what we had, except someone like me won't be there."

Someone who in such a short time will cultivate an attachment to a human and risk everything in their life for him. Fabrizio doesn't say the words, but Ermal can hear them clearly in the air. None of them is to blame for what happened. And if they had a chance to change something, they would do it all over again.

"Our peoples will never be able to agree, there will be war, there will be victims. But I know you can prevent it, only you. And you will save these people, because that is the duty of a doctor, isn't it?"

"Will I see you again?"

This is not a question, questions are not asked with such desperation. This is a plea that Fabrizio unmistakably identifies.

He gets up from the bed, nothing in his movements betrays that he was almost unconscious from blood loss recently, and approaches Ermal. Gently takes his hand, but feels that this is not enough, so he puts his arm around Ermal’s waist and pulls him into the hug. His body shudders in Fabrizio’s arms, but Ermal just snuggles closer and hides his face in the crook of the neck.

"I'll find you as soon as I can, I promise."

Of course, there is no reason to believe that this will happen. But Ermal will, because he _wants_ it to be true. And, if something depends on him, he will stop all the wars in the galaxy.

As much as they would like to stay in each other's arms forever, their time is coming to an end. An awkward goodbye, and Fabrizio goes alone to the shuttles, one of which is supposed to take him away from this ill-fated ship. After their invasion, there are now ghosts everywhere, and he can feel their presence in the slight movement of the air around him. The last thing he wants to do is leave Ermal here, but it doesn't look like he has a choice. None of them.

"Bizio, wait!" a voice from the opposite end of the hangar makes him turn around. "You forgot something."

Fabrizio tries to remember what it might be, because he didn't even take anything with him on the ship, but then he realizes.

He crosses the distance between them almost at a run, takes Ermal's face in his hands, and kisses him. Ermal is confused, but only for a second, his lips quickly open to meet Fabrizio’s, and his arms wrap around his neck.

That's not what he came for, but it's a lie to say that Ermal didn't want this kiss to happen. At least it gave him the confidence that what had happened between them meant something. A verbal promise, now backed up by a silent confession. _I need you, I'll come back to you._

After a few minutes, they disentangle themselves from each other's arms, Ermal gives Fabrizio painkillers, despite the assurances that the hand is almost fine and gives only a slight discomfort.

The shuttle is rapidly moving away, until it finally disappears into space, and the only surviving member of the crew is already thinking about what he will have to do to see the one he so undoubtedly trusted again.


End file.
